Despite facing a top-10 opponent in a difficult atmosphere, Colorado experienced something in the offensive huddle that’s been lacking for much of the 2021 season — a renewed energy and confidence.

The end result — a 52-29 loss at Oregon in Autzen Stadium — was far from what the Buffs were after, but it’s hard to argue the performance by the CU offense was anything but its strongest of the season.

Freshman quarterback Brendon Lewis had a career-high 25 completions and was as efficient as he’s ever been with a completion percentage over 75%, also a career high.

But beyond the counting stats for one specific player, there was a consistency with the way the CU offense carried itself. For the first time maybe all season, the Buffs were able to put together multiple long scoring drives that were included in some big conversions on third and fourth down.

“We were definitely amped up because we were moving the ball well and scored quite a few [touchdowns],” offensive lineman Kary Kutsch said Monday.

After the team scored just 3 points on the road against Cal the previous week, Karl Dorrell decided to make a change on his coaching staff and fire offensive line coach Mitch Rodrigue, handing that role over to quality control assistant William Vlachos and graduate assistant Donovan Williams.

The change has been nothing but positive so far for the Buffs and it was evident in the way that unit performed against Oregon.

“Their attention to detail in their preparation was better,” Dorrell said of the offensive line. “There was more energy with how they played. I felt they were engaged and had great communication. Now, were there still a few mistakes in there? Yeah. But the body of work was probably our best so far this season. I think it is the implementation of what William and Donovan [Williams] have been doing in our preparation. I believe it’s been a positive boost of confidence, the way they’re coaching those guys, the way they’re responding to them. They’re starting to enjoy the game a lot more and it was good to see that they were enjoying battling and creating some positive plays in some difficult circumstances.”

Added Kutsch: “There was a lot of new energy. Vlachos changed a few things, tried to optimize [the game plan] for us a little bit more, but the biggest thing was the energy in the room.”

That energy on the offensive line allowed CU to be the type of balanced offense that Dorrell desires.

Alex Fontenot was effective running the ball, averaging nearly 6 yards per carry and finding the end zone once.

And in the passing game, a star is quickly beginning to develop at CU in the form of freshman wide receiver Brenden Rice, son of Jerry Rice, the NFL’s all-time leader in just about every major receiving category.

Rice had his second career game with 100-plus receiving yards and caught his second touchdown pass of the season as the Brendon-to-Brenden combination is quickly becoming a go-to option.

“I’m extremely happy for both of them because they’re discovering new steps of their progress and they’re gaining confidence along the way,” Dorrell said of Lewis and Rice. “They’re very confident with each other and making plays. There’s always that connection when a quarterback has a great feel with one of his receivers and I think that’s starting to be developed right now. But we need that feeling with a lot of our skill [players].”

Dorrell mentioned freshman wideout Montana Lemonious-Craig as another skill position player that’s starting to do some dangerous things on the field. Fellow freshman Ty Robinson has also emerged in recent weeks, catching a touchdown pass to help get CU on the board Saturday.

It certainly hasn’t been the easiest year for this very young group of offensive players, but the last few weeks have certainly provided some flashes of what this group can do as their careers progress over the next few seasons in Boulder.

“A lot of these guys are starting to step up in these critical moments and we need them to continue to do that so Brendon Lewis feels confident that he can throw to anybody,” Dorrel said. “That’s the goal. There’s definitely a connection between both [Brendon Lewis and Brenden Rice] and the last few games have showed a lot of that success, but we need Brendon Lewis to feel confident in anybody that’s open that they’re going to make those plays.”